Hockey bids fond farewell to Fairgrounds Coliseum

Tor Will, right, of Como Park scores a goal against goalie Keegan Husom of Robbinsdale Cooper in a Jan. 9 hockey game at the Coliseum. (Special to the Pioneer Press: A.J. Olmscheid)

During the Minnesota State Fair, White Bear Lake boys hockey coach Tim Sager has a tradition that ranks right up there with eating pronto pups and taking the obligatory ride down the Giant Slide.

He stops by the Lee and Rose Warner Coliseum on the south end of the grounds, says hello to the workers he recognizes, then settles into one of the more than 5,000 seats in the cold and cavernous arched-roof echo chamber for a trip down memory lane.

What he saw is an arena floor filled with dirt, used mostly during the fair for livestock shows. But what he feels is a lifetime of hockey memories, ranging from winning a grade-school title while at St. Bernard's to classic section duels between the Bears and archrival Hill-Murray.

"There's just no better place for hockey than that old place," Sager said last week. "One of the biggest things I tell our players is to remember every little thing when you have the honor and privilege of playing there. One of the greatest things there is to be able to walk through the crowds to the rink. I tell them to close their eyes and enjoy the sounds and the smells, and to remember them forever."

Pretty soon, hockey in the Coliseum will be just a fond memory.

Last month, State Fair officials announced that the Coliseum would stop hosting hockey games because of decreased demand and prohibitive costs to replace the aging ice-making equipment. The final game will be the Class 2A-Section 4 boys final on Feb. 28.

Advertisement

Chances are good once again for yet another showdown between White Bear Lake and Hill-Murray.

The Coliseum will continue to host horse and livestock shows, as well as retail shows.

Hockey had been played before in the structure once known as the Hippodrome, but it really started becoming the place to be for area teams in the mid-1970s. The Coliseum was built in 1951 to replace the crumbling Hippodrome that was built in 1909.

Sam Bokk, a junior of Robbinsdale Cooper, laughs with his friends during the game between Como Park and Robbinsdale Cooper at the Coliseum. (Special to the Pioneer Press: A.J. Olmscheid)

"I hope people will remember what a special, charming place this is and how loud and fun it could get when it was filled," said St. Paul's Dave Wright, the longtime public-address announcer at the Coliseum.

In its prime, during the 1980s and '90s, Wright said the Coliseum hosted high school and college hockey games as often as five days a week.

"You just can't make up some of the stuff that has happened in this old place," Wright said with a smile.

For instance?

-- The scoreboard hangs low enough over center ice that players can flip the puck over it. If the puck doesn't touch the scoreboard, it remains in play.

-- Quite a few goals have been scored from center ice because goalies lose the puck in the background of green seats.

-- A dead spot for sound exists near the goal on the west end of the rink, and referees haven't heard the horn sound from that spot.

-- In 1978, the Coliseum hosted the NAIA national college tournament in early March when the roof sprung a leak and snow from above poured onto the scorer's table and into the penalty box. The remedy: A hardware store tarp was draped over the area to keep players and personnel dry during games.

-- In 1983, a mysterious Valentine's Day power outage delayed games for nearly three hours and left referees, coaches and other game management personnel in hot water with spouses and significant others who were left waiting and wondering at restaurants all over the Twin Cities.

David Wright announces the game between Como Park and Robinsdale Cooper at the Coliseum. (Special to the Pioneer Press: A.J. Olmscheid)

"Some goofy stuff has happened there," Hill-Murray activities director and boys hockey coach Bill Lechner said. "Still, it's a special place, a throwback kind of place. When you get the opportunity to play here, you savor everything about it. It's an emotional feeling when you have to go through the crowd from your locker room to the rink. You've got fans of all ages slapping you on the back and wishing you well. It's powerful stuff."

Professional and college teams have called the Coliseum home over the years, but the bulk of the games were between high school teams. High school section playoffs began at the Coliseum in 1981.

Among the memories: South St. Paul hanging on for an 11-8 victory over Simley in the Section 4AA championship game in 1989, a month after Edina staged a ferocious rally to stun Hill-Murray in overtime. And Krissy Wendell and Natalie Darwitz, two of the world's best women's players, made the Coliseum the place to be when they showcased their talents there during the 2000 girls hockey state tournament.

And, of course, there are the nearly annual battles between Hill-Murray and White Bear Lake in section play.

"There have been so many people stuffed in here for high school games that the fire marshal must have been told to go fishing," Wright said.